NYC � Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Chair of the Council’s General Welfare Committee, released the following statement regarding Governor Paterson’s proposed state budget.� While it would not go into effect until 2010, the Governor has proposed to increase the basic welfare grant by thirty percent over three years.� The basic grant for a family of three would eventually rise to $387 a month, up from its current level of $291 a month.� The grant has not increased from its current level since 1990.

“Our City and State are facing extremely difficult financial times, and tough choices have to be made.� Yet while spending must be reigned in, I commend Governor Paterson for recognizing the need to increase support to New York’s low-income families by raising the basic welfare grant.� This grant has remained at its current, bare-bones level for the past eighteen years, while prices and the cost of living have undoubtedly shot up exponentially since then.� I applaud the Governor’s forward-looking approach to protecting New Yorkers in need over the long-term,” said Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Chair of the General Welfare Committee.

(YWN Desk – NYC)